Design
by RebbieChan
Summary: Book 4. Asami struggles to come up with a design to protect the city from Kuvira's attack. Slight Korrasami.


Asami stared into the pile that had become her desk. Stacked high with reference books on any and all defense systems, there was barely any room among her draft paper (filled with useless scribbles mostly), a notepad to jot down ideas and her drawing utensils, for the mug of tea that was all that kept her awake. Thinking and functioning was another matter entirely.

"Now think about this, and really think on it this time - not one of those 'get back to work Varrick' looks - I have a real prospect for you."

She had heard this claim before but she was running out of steam and maybe, just maybe Varrick actually had come up with something that made some semblance of sense. She turned her chair to face him and placed her mug in her lap.

"I was looking through your collection of books here and saw something I couldn't pass up. I want to know your theory on how interplanetary travel was made possible in the StarSky Vagabond series. My theory is they use the force of strings to" Asami sipped her tea and turned back to her work. "Well you can't just sail out in space like water or air! It's made of a different sort of stuff!"

"I was hoping that when you said you looked through my books you meant the reference material." Not her personal fiction collection. Her eyes narrowed, how had he gotten to those anyway? "What were you doing in my library?"

"Looking for reference material of course! But it got me thinking, instead of looking at the past for ideas to improve on, we should look to the ideas of the future!" Varrick proclaimed. "I was quite surprised to see just how many science fiction books you own and I took it upon myself to go through them."

Asami was losing her patience with the man. Long hours cooped up in the same room as him was taking its toll. "And just how does space travel help us in any way?"

"It doesn't! I just think it's neat!"

Asami glared at him. Before telling him off she reminded herself that it wouldn't help get Varrick back on track. She had started to pick up on some of his little quirks. She knew answering his question was the only way he might go back to doing some work and it wasn't like she hadn't spent some time thinking about it after all. "You're theory doesn't make sense. Strings of what? Where would the energy for these strings come from? What's your reference frame?"

"Well, what's your thought then?"

"You said that space is made of different stuff, I agree." Asami folded her hands together. She came up with her theory while working on the Air Nation wingsuits and while she was reading the third book in the series. "What if space-time is made up of a network of loops. But when it comes to travel-"

Varrick scoffed. "Loops? How does that make any more sense?"

Before she could respond there was a knock at the door. "Uh, Asami?" Korra said before pushing the door open enough to peek in.

Not realizing she had been so on edge, Asami felt herself start to ease back at the sight of her friend. She smiled and said, "Come on in Korra." Korra likely could tell from the general disarray that had become of her once near-spotless office or from the mental and physical exhaustion in her features that things were not going well. Korra probably could have guessed just from the knowledge that Asami had to work with someone whom she held a firm, long-standing grudge against. Still, Korra's eyes swept around the room and she stepped in, taking in the chaos with an absent smile.

Her eyes fell on Asami. "I thought you could use a break, want to go get some lunch?"

Her face lit up in relief. "Gladly." Asami stood up from her chair and quickly organized a bag with a few pens and a notepad in case any ideas came to her while she was out.

"A break! Just what the Doctor ordered!" Asami froze at the sound of Varrick's voice. From the corner of her eye she saw him spin in his chair and swing up on his feet. "What were you thinking? I could go for some real Fire Nation cuisine!"

"I was thinking just the two of us." Korra said, glancing to Asami.

"Two's a pair but three's a crowd! The more the merrier I always say, Asami can come along too!"

"That's not what I-" Korra started but caught sight of Asami's dismissive wave. She frowned but held her tongue. There was no use arguing with Varrick, Asami had learned, at least on matters like this. One had to choose their battles and with Varrick every little thing could turn into one. In this case she was almost certain he didn't have the social skills to understand.

She walked over to Korra and linked her arm around hers. Leaning close, she whispered with spite. "Looks like its Fire Fritters for lunch."

Varrick strode past them, complaining about his back and a headache and a few other things that the women tuned out. The two followed behind at a slower pace, letting the gap between them grow.

"Are you okay?" Korra whispered back.

"Exhausted. And," her eyes flicked over to the man trotting in front of them, "well you can guess." She couldn't help but smile. It was nice to be around her, even if Varrick was there. There hadn't been much time to catch up since Korra's arrival in Republic City and so no moment would go wasted. It was nice to just be in her presence, to have her close, to take in the feel of her muscular arm hooked around hers.

Korra's expression settled into her little pout as she eyed Varrick's back. She looked back up at Asami with a lopsided grin. Her heart skipped a beat, she hadn't noticed just _how _close they were. "I know how to ditch him for a while." It would be nothing to lean down just a little more and find her lips.

Asami stopped where she stood as Korra hopped forward, letting her hold break. She tried to ignore the thought, and instead she curiously watched to see what Korra would do.

"Before we go, I need to use the bathroom." Korra said, a little louder than she likely needed to. Varrick glanced back at the two of them, his hands in his pockets.

"I'll go with you." Asami offered, seeing what Korra's plan was.

"Be quick about it," Varrick urged, "my stomach is making sounds like the cries of a fully grown beached sea-monkeylion."

"You might want to go on ahead and get us a table," Asami suggested. She glanced at Korra, unsure what reason she had for it beyond wanting more time to be alone.

"Since us girls take so long in the bathroom." Korra said.

"Girls _do _take forever in there." Varrick pondered for a moment. "I always wonder if you have a mini snack bar and some couches in there, but where would there be space for it? I've asked Zhu Li but she never gave a straight answer. Probably was a sign that she'd betray me." His eyes narrowed for a moment before brightening again. "Alright, I'll do it!"

The two turned away from him and in the direction of the ladies' room. The moment the door swung closed Asami let her tense shoulders sag and let out a long breath. "He doesn't stop talking ever." She groaned. Korra leaned back against the row of sinks to listen, while Asami made for one of the stalls. "He interrupts every sentence I have to say. But the worst is when he stops talking, because he's disappeared to who knows where, messing around with something of mine that he shouldn't."

Korra laughed and Asami couldn't help but feel a little giddy in her frustration. The situation with Varrick felt a little ridiculous when she said it out loud.

"And he barely works! Out of the two days we've been working on this, he actively contributed an hour of effort. I swear he can only work during set hours of the day and the problem is-" Asami cut herself off as she moved to wash her hands. "The problem is, the only progress we've made, we made because he focused for half a second and pointed out something obvious. I hate to say it, because we're working together, but I almost wish he wasn't so smart."

"You of all people don't need to feel inferior to _him_."

Asami smiled at Korra. She felt relaxed for the first time since she had been given this assignment. They lingered at the sinks, not yet ready to leave. "How have you been?"

Korra shrugged and slumped a little against the counter. "Alright, I guess. I wish there was something more I could do to help."

"Right now you're keeping me sane," Asami said, "I'd say you're helping plenty."

The two laughed on their way out. Both were relieved to find that Varrick hadn't decided to wait for them anyway. They would have a little more time to themselves.

Korra asked what ideas she had come up with and Asami explained how they were stuck in the research and brainstorming stage of the design process. None of the ideas they came up with were either viable or useful and they would be back again doing more research and more brainstorming. It didn't help that Varrick's brainstorms tended to be completely unrelated. The combination of that and his surprisingly quick ability to find the faults in her ideas put them at a standstill. The only idea that half- stuck was a joke they had about building a giant platinum wall around the entire United Republic.

"I think part of the problem is that we don't have much experience in making weapons." Asami admitted. She thought of the remote bombs Varrick had made and used when he stole most of her company's warehouse a few years back. "At the very least, I don't."

"What about those mecha suits?" Korra asked.

"My father designed those, I made a few adjustments since then."

"The shocker glove?"

"I've only updated his old design on that too," she admitted, "all I did was make it lighter."

Korra tried to think of other examples but came up with nothing. "So what you're trying to do right now is the same thing to old weapons and defenses?"

"Yes," Asami nodded. "I want to have something more mobile, quicker to respond." She gestured as she spoke, trying to convey what she wasn't sure she meant. "battle calls for spilt second decisions and so should…" She glanced over at Korra who was watching her with a growing smile on her lips. Asami dropped her arms, feeling embarrassed. "What?"

Korra's eyes shifted across the room. "Uh, nothing. I just think what you do is cool. I mean-" The water tribe girl gave a little frustrated pout at her choice of words. "It's charming how into it you are." She flushed and very deliberately began craning her neck to see where Varrick was seated for lunch.

Asami felt the compliment like a warm blanket. She watched her friend with a hint of amusement and adoration. She wasn't sure if Korra happened to mess up her wording twice or if she really meant what she said. Either way, her legs seemed to have all but forgotten they had bones in them to hold them up.

"There he is," Korra mumbled and started over to the table.

—-

After dinner the three made a stop at the park. Korra insisted that they needed fresh air or they'd go stir crazy and end up doing nothing but pace the floors of the office. Varrick plopped himself down on a patch of grass, picked at a flower and stared up at it as if lost in thought.

It seemed a bit strange for the man to suddenly get all moony-eyed and Asami wondered if it had something to do with Zhu-Li. She didn't spend much time thinking about it because with Varrick off in his own little world it was like she and Korra were alone again. She couldn't help but think that she was wearing a similar expression as Korra sat a little lower on the steps before her.

A light breeze blew, only a few lazy clouds sat in the sky, and yes, the fresh air felt wonderful on her skin. Asami sat on the top step and flipped open her bag to dig out her notepad and pencil. Still, as she sat there, nothing came to her. If anything, the outdoors seemed determined to lull her to sleep.

Korra sat with her elbows on her knees, resting her cheek against her hand. "It's weird how peaceful it is when we're preparing for a probable battle."

Asami nodded in agreement even though Korra wasn't looking at her. It didn't seem like Korra was really talking to her or anyone, just musing. It was strange. Among them there had been celebrating even in the last week with Korra coming back. There was an uneasy dysphoria around them and that moment of time. Things seemed normal, but they were far from it.

Dragonfly-hummingbirds danced around in the air above Korra's head. A few of them hovered and darted in to land on her head and shoulders. Korra noticed, but let them land on her anyway.

It was amusing. What had been three or four of the spirits quickly became seven or eight or twelve. Korra exhaled slowly, "I'm almost afraid to move."

"They all seem to like you." Asami said. She looked down at her page, a sketch of Korra's back with a few of the creatures perched about her. She flushed and turned the page, but found herself drawing the spirits again.

She started at her sketches and back to Korra. One of the spirits flicked by too close to the avatar's nose and she sat rigid, trying very hard to hold in a sneeze. In a swarm the creatures flitted off, waited the second it took the girl to sneeze, and landed again.

It was amazing how well the coordinated, how quickly they moved and how they could hover… "That's it!" Asami exclaimed, jumping up and dropping her notepad.

The sudden noise and movement scared off the spirits. Behind them Varrick sat up. Korra turned in surprise. "What is?"

"Dragonfly-hummingbirds!" Asami scrambled to pick up her notepad and flipped to the page with her sketches and showed them to the others. "If we can design a mecha suit with flight capabilities similar to this – imagine the mobility!"

"Asami that's-"

Varrick leapt to his feet. "That's a great idea!"

"We have to get back to my office!" Excitement bubbled up from within her. She was already working out the mechanism for the wings in the forefront of her mind. Asami started after Varrick, but turned back and threw Korra into a hug. "Thank you!"

Korra placed her hands tentatively on her back. "I didn't really do anything…"

"You did it Korra, just take the thank you."

**A/N:** kinda too long and kinda lame, but whatever! Some Korrasami that I forgot to post on here from my tumblr - might as well post it now that Korrasami is cannon! *screams and cries with joy forever*


End file.
